Stephen J. Ubl

President and Chief Executive Officer PhRMA

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Stephen J. Ubl is president and chief executive officer of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which represents America’s leading biopharmaceutical research companies. The biopharmaceutical sector directly employs more than 810,000 Americans, and invested more than $51 billion in 2014 to develop new medicines that help patients fight disease and live longer, healthier lives.

Mr. Ubl leads PhRMA’s work preserving and strengthening a health care and economic environment that encourages medical innovation, new drug discovery and access to life-saving medicines. Ubl is recognized around the world as a leading health care advocate and policy expert who collaborates successfully with diverse stakeholder groups – including patient and physician groups, regulators, public and private payers, and global trade organizations – to help ensure timely patient access to innovative treatments and cures. “If anyone can find areas of agreement with the critics, or at least work productively with them, it may be Mr. Ubl,” the New York Times’ Robert Pear wrote in February 2016. “He is more conversant with the intricacies of health policy, and more adept at the politics.”

As president and CEO of medical technology association AdvaMed, Ubl helped facilitate landmark reforms related to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration product review process and Medicare’s coverage and reimbursement of medical technologies. He led the industry’s staunch defense of breakthrough R&D, successfully delaying an innovation-stifling device tax, and, in 2013, was recognized by a leading industry publication as one of 10 people to have a lasting impact on the medical technology industry.

Ubl has worked extensively with patient advocacy organizations in health policy, including longstanding service on the board of the National Health Council, a leading umbrella organization for voluntary health care organizations and has been personally involved with JDRF (formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).

He is routinely recognized as one of Washington’s most effective advocates, and, in 2016, was named one of the Top 20 Most Influential People in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare, a Top Lobbyist by The Hill and a top health influencer by Medical Marketing & Media and PR Week magazines.

Prior to AdvaMed, Ubl was vice president of legislation for the Federation of American Hospitals. He began his Washington career on Capitol Hill.